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The BeerTools Observer: Focus on Clones

September 29, 2006 at 12:00pm

Author(s): Lathe Poland

Sometimes when we brew, we are trying to capture the very essence of our favorite commercial beer. This can prove to be quite a task. Commercial brewers bank on creating beer that isn't easily imitated. In fact, some of the same technology used in "cloning" animals (or people) is used in developing the modern bottle of beer. Brewing continues to be one of the most competitive and innovative sectors in the food and drink industry.

The breweries have the luxury of a team of experts. The "team" is focused on maintaining or inventing the perfect balance of flavor and texture. What about us? Can we successfully clone a beer? The answer is a resounding YES!

Mark, and Tess Szamatulski authors of the book "Beer Captured" have made a living from doing this very thing. They told us about their process in an interview several years ago. The bottom line is practice. Mark and Tess went through a lot of batches to arrive at the recipes in their book.

"Hold on," you may say. "I don't have the luxury of being able to just make batch after batch while trying to perfect a clone." That's where BeerTools and the users of BeerTools step in. BeerTools is proud to count some of the world's best home and professional brewers among our regular users. When you look through the recipe database you see a lot of award winning recipes along with helpful tips and advice.

A search of the recipe database for the word "clone" turns up over 250 recipes. We encourage you to ask the authors of those recipes what they like or dislike about them. So come to think of it, just like the commercial brewers, YOU have a "team" of experts that can help you clone your favorite beer! So don't be shy- jump in and clone it!

Each month we will feature a few recipes that you might like to try. Here are a few suggestions: (CLICK ON THE BOTTLES TO LEARN MORE)